


Slip of the Tongue

by Ashush



Category: Death Note (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Dreams, F/M, Fluff, Investigations, Mutual Pining, Occasional angst, One Shot, Secret Crush, Secrets, but people liked it so now it’s an actual story, doesn't mean i know what i’m doing though, no beta we die like L
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:13:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25083697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ashush/pseuds/Ashush
Summary: A simple name comes up when Light is asleep.L uses it to his advantage.
Relationships: Yagami Light/Reader
Comments: 23
Kudos: 182





	1. Investigations by L

**Author's Note:**

> This doesn’t make sense at all since i wrote it at like.. 2 AM? Please enjoy though!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maybe Light shouldn't have slept.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [EDITED]  
> *But not really, check out the other chapters for actual edits

L could not care less about a random teenager’s love life. But this wasn’t just _any_ teenager, he’s come to realize. The top student in almost all of Japan, the son of a chief of police, a perfect guy all around.. No, _Light Yagami_ wasn’t just a random teenager.

That was what made him stood out among the rest in L’s mind. He’s _too perfect_. He must have something wrong, anything he could use for his advantage in this cruel game of life and death.

L finally found it.

A slip up, even if it was just a simple name, was a major one. L had been convinced that Light is Kira, he just had to catch him.

It occurs one night, thanks to all the 64 cameras and wiretaps in the boy’s bedroom.

L took one spoonful out of the mug, _‘So this is a strawberry mug cake..’_ he eats the piece of the cake on the spoon, immediately delighted by it’s flavor. _‘It’s good.’_

He would have kept eating if he hadn’t heard a sound coming from the brunette through the camera and mic from right above his bed.

_“(Y/N)..”_

No one heard the knowing chuckle of the Shinigami beside Light’s sleeping figure.

L stared intently, listening more clearly as he grasped the spoon in his hand tightly.

He almost could have fallen off the chair from how far he was sitting but if he moved now there were consequences. He’d make a noise and disrupt whatever Light said next or miss whatever he’d say because his mind was occupied. He thinks there would be a 92% chance it’s the former because his mind didn’t, _hasn’t_ , missed anything since he was a toddler. So he stays still in his chair.

_“She’s mine.“_

Light woke up suddenly, much to L’s disappointment, sitting up on his bed looking like he had just had one of the scariest dreams of his entire life.

He stood up, groggily made his way to the bathroom, _‘He’ll wash his face, tell himself it was ‘Only a dream’.’_ L’s mind wonders what his dream about but shoos the thoughts away quickly. He had no time to think about anything meaningless. The name _‘(Y/N)’_ would be a good hint for now.

Souichirou walked inside the dimly lighted room, holding a mug of what was most likely his 4th cup of black coffee. “Where’s Light?” He asks, taking his seat beside L.

“Bathroom, he had a bad dream.” L answers, not taking his eye off of Light, who was now sitting back on his bed and seemingly thinking hard about something. It was only a couple of minutes before he was sleeping back on the bed.

L thought deeply, _‘Who is this (Y/N)? Is she a close friend of Light? She doesn’t seem to be his lover yet, possibly someone he has buried feelings for?’_ He shook his head and turned to Souichirou. “Do you know (Y/N)?”

“I’ve heard she’s a close friend of Light's, they both met in cram school. Why do you ask?”

L smiled.

“Your son’s crush might be a great help to us, if Light really is Kira.”

Souichirou’s eyebrow raised, looking at L peculiarly, “Crush? Didn’t think Light had one. How do you know?” L told him about what had happened before Light went to the bathroom in full detail, the exact words quoted out of his mouth without missing a beat. He memorizes these sorts of things after all. Souichirou nods along, thinking about what L said.

“We could use her on our side.”


	2. Love and War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Light can’t seem to get you off his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [EDITED]  
> *New stuff added but the premise is still the same :]

Light walks across the street and enters the small neighborhood of houses he called home. With his hands in his pocket and scarf covering his neck, his mind begins to drift away and bring about a dream he had of a certain girl yesterday night.

_(Y/N)._

Even thinking about you makes his chest fill with various little specks of butterflies fluttering around. Truth be told, he can’t pinpoint the exact moment he started feeling this way about you. He only knows that he does now and it’s ridiculous infatuation that certainly will get in the way for his future plans to be the god of the new world. 

_He should kill you... right?_

A certain part of his mind engulfs him, screaming _not to kill her because it's not her fault..._ but another part tells him to _do it, she's just a hole in your plan!_

And that’s how he spends his evening alone in his room, looking at the open page of the Death Note in deep conflict after finding out through Ryuk _~~blackmail~~_ that all the cameras have disappeared. His hand grips the pen tightly. 

Why couldn’t he just write down your name? It’s only _(Y/N) (L/N)_ and that was it _._ You were but a distraction, someone he should just eradicate because you were in his way and because you were giving him unnecessary thoughts inside his head. Then again, you _are_ the closest friend that he's ever had, ever since he met you at cram school. ' _Friend_..' The word leaves a bitter aftertaste in his tongue. Still, the work of Kira could eventually harm you, and that's the last thing he wants.. despite trying to write your name in a notebook that could _kill_ you. 

Every time he attempted to write your name, he halted and quickly erased it. Something held him back. Was it because of your bright smile? Or how your gentle eyes soften him up when he was having a bad day? Maybe.. _Maybe_ this wasn't just infatuation. He must have lov- his cheeks flare, unable to finish the sentence even in his mind.

The dark chuckles coming from the Shinigami beside him, as per usual, makes his eye twitch. He didn't like how Ryuk found his struggle of writing your name in between the lines so amusing, but then again, he didn't like a lot of things. ' _Damn Shinigami must be entertained by my distress._ ' 

“You like this woman.” Ryuk strides around Light’s room, picking up the fresh apple from his desk and munching on it. “I like her too.”

Now that piqued Light’s interest. “Why do _you_ like her?” He asks, suspicious of Ryuk. There's an urge to protect you and keep you away from him, much to his annoyance. Since when had _this_ begin? He refuses to acknowledge the fact that it's begun from that he's always had the urge to whisk you away in his arms.

“She drops off apples when she comes by.” Ryuk finishes the apple and throws the core, a part he rather disliked in apples, away in the trash can. “She’s a great woman to marry, if you both live that long.”

Another chuckle escapes Ryuk’s mouth, but this one doesn’t irritate Light as much as the last. Instead, he got to think about something peculiar.

‘ _Did Ryuk just mention that we both won’t live long enough to marry?_ ’

“Besides, you can write as much names in there as you want.” Ryuk pauses, and grins at Light’s face as he continues to think about that statement from a while ago. “But you can never write the name of the woman you want.”

This revelation seems to strike a chord in Light, who glares at Ryuk like a stubborn child who just got told that they couldn’t do what he wanted. “Just watch.”

Proceeding to write _(Y/N)_ on the page _,_ he stops abruptly in the middle of writing your last name just like the last times. Strangely, Ryuk's taunting doesn't work.

Then he figures it out. He doesn’t want to see your smile withered. He doesn’t want to see your eyes derived of life. He doesn’t want you _dead_ by his hand. 

_Ryuk is, undeniably, right_. 

Light can’t kill you, no matter what. He's selfish like that, not wanting any danger to come close to you.

“Change of plans.” Light coughs, erasing your name on the page and closing the Death Note. He didn’t want to see Ryuk’s delightfully smug expression on his face right now.

“It's clear to me that I'm already hers.” A flash of his dream's remnants pass through him. It only makes him even more determined, almost rivaling Kira's justice. "And soon enough, she _will_ be mine." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> writing this while listening to ‘Rivers in the Desert’ is surprisingly motivating


	3. Around You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You’re finally revealed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [EDITED]  
> *A WHOLE LOT OF EDITING READ IT GUYS

You were blissfully unaware about the events that occurred just a few days ago, happily walking by Light's side after school had ended for the day.

All you knew was that you would have a revision with Light about the latest dump of school work tonight in his room ~~_which may or may not have earned some rumors about what exactly could be happening between you two_~~ , and that he was glancing at you every once in a while as you walked back to the Yagami residence. Scratch that, he's outright staring at you when you weren't looking anywhere near him.

His ' _sneaky’_ glimpses at you, which he must have thought went unnoticed ~~_seriously how dumb did he think you were?_~~ , were making you feel rather nervous. You hummed softly to distract yourself and to let Light know that he was being a weirdo. He should know your distress signal by now after years of knowing you. Thankfully, his stares lessened drastically... but you still felt him look every so often. Oh well, it's the least you can get.

Normally, your walk back home would be filled with mindless chatter about the current events at school or outside of school. But you supposed there were days where one of them had too much thoughts kept privately locked inside their minds and the walks were met with comfortable silence. Only today did you notice him looking at you a lot.

‘ _What’s on his mind_..?’  You ponder, turning your head to look at him and accidentally looking into each other’s eyes. ‘ _ABORT. ABORT_.’  You bit your lip, averting your gaze away from his. 

To passersby, this scene would look like a typical romance trope about two people who were secretly crushing on each other, and it could have been... if you didn’t already shut down the possibility of him liking you in _that_ way. You didn't intend to like your closest friend, but things change. Now you were hopelessly liking him without much as a single sign of him liking you back. He must have thought of you as _’_ _j_ _ust_ _a friend_ ’, or worse- his _sister_. These thoughts only added to your misery.

“I heard some girls talking awhile ago...” Light speaks up, all of a sudden, and flashes you a playful grin. You noticed it didn't quite reach his eyes. “They say Kurusu-kun is planning to ask you out?"

"Am I really that hated that someone would personally ask me out of the school?" You giggle at how Light is rolling his eyes. You definitely don't see how much you're affecting him right now.

You cup your chin, unsure about how to process the particular situation being brought up. The fact that one of the cutest boys in school wanted to take you out on a date just like that? You were suspicious of this predicament. Perhaps he wanted to ask you about Light whilst disguising it as a date. Perhaps. But you didn't care much for him, you had other things to handle. Like studying for the To-Oh entrance exams, or... how much your heart is racing when you look at Light and find him eagerly awaiting an answer about the date. 

“I don’t feel anything for him..” You nod, confirming that you hadn’t sensed any chemistry between you and the boy. “But, I’d like to go.”

Well,  _that_ wasn’t the response Light expected  to hear coming out from you. He expected a hard ' _No way!’_ because you either didn't believe what he just said or you were too busy with exams to go out on dates. ~~_He would have liked a 'I'd rather be with you' but reality is disappointing, isn't it?_~~. Curious about what was going inside that head of yours he asks, "Why?" A tinge of disappointment and tiny, _tiny_ jealousy was imminent in his tone. He'd wanted to tell that boy that you had no interest in him and not cause any other problems, but now you've confused him. You've always had, actually. 

Your head tilts, looking at his confused face before grinning widely. You really do confuse the ever living fuck out of him. “Shouldn't we head in first?"

Light blinks, before realizing that they were right in front of his doorstep. How he didn't notice that, he'd never know. He could already hear Ryuk scrutinizing him for his absence of mind.

"I'd rather get my answer now, thanks." He opens the door, getting impatient. His mother, Sachiko, greets them both from the kitchen. You settle into his room after chatting with his mother, who then sent Light to fetch his sister from her room. He told you to go up first, muttering about how ' _Sayu's going to tease us again_ ' which made you chuckle. Truthfully, you had a soft spot for the younger Yagami sibling. After sitting down on the edge of his bed and putting your bag down, you laid down. ' _Just to experiment._.' You swore, ignoring the fact that you really just wanted to rest on the soft bed. You could hear various shouts ranging from _'(Y/N)-nee's here!?'_ to a _'Sayu, you better not-!'..._ then the door to his room slams open.

You're then met with the beaming smile of one Sayu Yagami and an exasperated face of one Light Yagami. 

"Oh, are you _finally_ sleeping with ( _Y/N)-nee_?"

Your cheeks, no, your whole face reddened. Did this girl not realize the implications of her question? You sat back down on the bed, and expected Light with a red tint on his cheeks. But nope. He's still the same Light who doesn't lose his cool in situations like these. Oh, you wished to gain his powers. He shook his head and pushed Sayu out, a ' _Don't come back_.' slipping out quite menacingly. He turned to look at you, before sitting down on the chair behind his desk. "Now where were we?"

"You wanted to know why I would have dated Kurusu-kun?"

"And why's that?"

You scrunched your nose, a bit dismayed that he'd forgotten something about you.

"Never pass up food, obviously."

~~_A second of silence for Light Yagami's mind leaving him._ ~~

~~~~Sure, he may or may not have escorted ~~ _kicked_~~ you out immediately after the revision session, but he still went with you to the train station and that's all that matters.

The train rushes past both you and the dark-haired stranger who appeared beside yourself right after Light bid his good night to you.

Claiming to be the  _famed detective_ _‘L’,_ despite looking like an eccentric man who looked like he didn’t shower, he asked for your thoughts upon a question: “ _Who do you think is ‘Kira_ ’?” 

You let your mind wander about the possibilities of who ‘ _Kira_ ’ could be. ”He could be anyone.” The answer is vague and a tad disappointing to the man beside you, but he can’t exactly be choosy, considering that you might just be an accomplice of his. 

“Why do you ask?”

“ _Your_ _Light Yagami is suspected to be Kira_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what is up with me writing everything in this at 2 AM??


	4. Intrigue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You have a conversation with the strange man from before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [EDITED]  
> *But not really, so this is basically just the og

L watches the features on your face closely. By that, he actually moves from his initial spot to inspect your face even further.

Your eyebrows are furrowed, mouth bordering to a frown and eyes clearly set in absolute confusion about his statement. He originally expected a more wild reaction, considering that he just said her close friend is suspected to be a murderer of hundreds.

“He might be.” Out of all the answers he predicted you would say, that.. wasn’t the first to come to mind. Then again, you’ve been known to be quite the shocker. “Anyone could be Kira, really.” You shrug, as if you didn’t care. 

_You did care_. 

Light is one of those people with an interesting yet naive view about justice in the world, he  could  be Kira because of that. How could he have killed so many? You didn’t know. A knowledgeable and greedy part of you wants to figure out the process of the killings but.. you really shouldn’t be taking an interest about  that  of all things.

“If Light Yagami really is.. Kira..” L finally speaks up, recovering from quite the questionable answer that left him more curious about you than before. “How would you handle it?”

“I won’t.”

_You wouldn’t_. 

You may have looked and acted rude saying such nonchalant answers for his pressing questions but you.. don’t exactly like entertaining the idea of him being Kira, despite knowing that Light could be with his intelligence and such. You had more problems to be worrying about other than a hypothetical question. 

Besides, if Light is Kira, you wouldn’t stop him from doing what he wanted. He must have had his reasons, most likely related to his sense of justice.  _And he could kill you._

Whatever gears L’s brain had running, they all momentarily stopped churning. ‘ _This girl’s kind of weird_.’  His eyes glare at you, looking for anything other than your cold face. ‘ _But,_ _she has her point_.’

Even if he thought the answers you had given out made his entire being irk, you.. still had somewhat of a point. You didn’t have to care about Light being Kira because you had more important issues in life to worry about. 

“Are you together with Light Yagami?” Now that reaction was what he thought would happen. Good to know his mind is up and running again. Your shoulders tense up, the grip on your bag tightens and your cheeks come back to life with a bright pink blush spread on it like wildfire. Different from the you you had shown him a while ago. 

It’s amusing for him to see you shake your head ‘ _No_ ’ when it’s already obvious to his calculated and never-resting mind that you liked him and wanted to be with him too. “You didn’t deny it when I said he’s  _your Light Yagami_.”

The blush on your cheeks only worsened when you remembered what he said moments ago. As you were about to answer, the speaker in the station announces the arrival of the train that’s taking you back to your humble home. ‘ _Whoever’s up there? Thanks_.’

“(L/N)-san, it was nice knowing your thoughts.” L puts his hands back in his jean’s pockets, walking away with a face deep in thought. ‘ _Is that his way of saying goodbye_?’  You wonder as you watch his figure getting smaller and smaller as he ambles his way out of sight and out of mind.

When you lay on the comfort of your bed that same night, you’re greeted by two text messages. Light and.. a new number.

**Light** : Did you get home safe? ^^

It warms your heart to see Light concerned about you, but it’s pace quickens faster as you try to form a good response.

**You** : Yeah

 **You** : met this weird guy once you left tho  ಠ- ಠ

**Light** : Maybe I should never leave you? Hah, just kidding. 

No one heard the ‘ _I’m not kidding_.’  slipping out of Light’s mouth.

**You** : Unless..? Nah, i can find other activities to do than hang out with you ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

**Light** : Wow, mean, much? And.. what kind of activities?

**You** : watching paint dry o( ｀ ω´ )o

**You** : were you thinking of something else?

**Light** : I’m not perverted like you, (Y/N). Go to sleep already ( ￣ ^ ￣ ).

**You** : Light’s using emoticons!? WOAH

**You** : but I should really sleep now >>

**You** : good night!

**Light** : You too. 

You were definitely going to overthink about this late night conversation for a few hours before sleeping. ‘ _Oh, right_.’  You open up the message someone sent you.

**[Number]** : You’re welcome to join the investigation.

.. Is this L? Didn’t you just openly express yourself not caring so much for this case? More importantly, how’d he get your number? 

Looks like you had more thoughts in your mind to keep you up tonight. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> didja see the reference i made? DIDJA—
> 
> (aka i recommend reading ‘The Bitten Apple’ by morninginmay because it’s rad)
> 
> also,, i haven’t r e a l l y watched death note nowadays so uh stuff might be wrong (please keep reading or point it out though i swear i’ll try to make it readable!!)


	5. Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Friendship’s beginnings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUYS YOU BETTER READ THE FIRST 4 CHAPTERS BEFORE READING THIS I EDITED A LOT  
> SWEAR TO ME GUYS

‘ _Walking_ _to school with Light is not an easy feat_.’  You wonder, trying to ignore the many glares that burn holes on every inch of you. Many students in the building might actually  kill  to have your spot right now, ‘ _Only in their minds_.’, you could only hope. At this point, you’ve organized them into three sections. 1.) Those who admired and looked up to Light as someone who achieved so much and so early in his age, 2.) Those who wanted to be on friendly terms, just  _enough_ to get some privileges out of it, and lastly, 3.) Those who... had _indecent_ thoughts floating around  ~~you couldn’t blame them.~~

_You... didn’t fit into any of them._

People liked to twist and stretch your reasons for hanging around Light. It went along the lines from ‘ _Sh_ _e has feelings for Light_!’ and on to ‘ _She’s Kira and wants to murder him_!’,  which were all incredibly amusing to you. Your reason of being friends with him was simple.  _You care for him_.  Although, you had to give those rumors some credit. You really did develop feelings for him, the guy merely started to grow on you is all. Except for those crazed few who thought you were Kira. Now  those  are not appreciated.  ~~ _Yeah, uh, what the hell, man._ ~~

You hadn’t meant to tap into an old memory between you and the boy striding next to you, but you found yourself reminiscing of it anyway. _The first moment you and him talked_. Late night at another day in cram school, both in your first years of junior high school... he approached you then. 

_ “_ My father told me to walk lonely girls home at night. _” _

_ You looked up to see a young boy standing next to your desk. He wasn’t smiling, but he wasn’t frowning either. Only... blank. A shudder went down your spine, was this boy a lost spirit? You wished he wasn't. _

_ “_ I-I can walk home alone! _” The boy must have noticed your stammer, giving that he only stayed still without moving. ‘ What is with this guy?’  You pursed your lips. True, you were afraid to walk home alone since this was the first time your father couldn’t pick up... but it’s not exactly that dangerous around here, right? Oh, you were quite the naive one._

_ Giving up after a few futile attempts of trying to get him to budge— in which, you were taken aback by how stubborn he was— you settled on having him take you back to your humble home.  _

_ “_ The Yagami residence is just a few streets away, _ ” You say as a matter-of-fact,“ _ so we can go our own ways when we pass by the Narukami residence... is that okay _?” _

_ Strangely, Light, as he told you his name midway through that argument just a while ago, only nodded silently. Different from when he was arguing with you.“_ You... know where my house is _?” _

_ "_ Of course. _" You chirped, telling him about when you saw him walk alone while your father took you back home. You had admired how brave he was, the boy who went home the latest out of all of them in the dead of night. Right after telling him about his braveness, you swore you saw the slightest trace of pink in his cheeks. _

_ Neither of you mentioned how much tension there was between you two as you stepped out into the open of the crisp evening air. It’s uncomfortably quiet but he didn’t want to strike up a conversation, if the hands in his pockets and indifferent face he had on were anything to go by.  _

_ “_Yagami-kun..." _Being the first to initiate a conversation never felt so awkward, but it mellowed down when he looks at you in curiosity.“_ Why did you take me home _?” _

_ “_Stupid _.” Funnily enough, he was wrong. Boasting with enough honors to make people call you a nerd from graduating elementary school, you felt offended. “_ I already told you, (L/N)-san. _” _

_ “_ Your father told you to do this, didn’t he _?” _

_ “..._ Yes.”

_ “ _ So, _” You continue, tapping the two of your index fingers together. It only served to make his stomach churn nervously. “_ If he hadn’t told you to get me, you would have left me _?” _

_ “..._ No. _” _

_ “ _ LIAR _!” _

_ Then and there, Light may or may not have kept walking you back home. Perhaps he was driven by you taking a hit of whatever pride he had, but you still appreciate it nonetheless. Learning things from the other that you had not known originally, you concluded that Light Yagami had gradually grown to be your closest friend.  _

_ ‘He was more lonely than me, come to think of it.’ _ Your eyebrows furrow. That didn’t matter anymore, since you were here with him now... but still. 

“Your mind’s so active in the morning.” Only then when Light’s voice chimed in did you realize how much you had been thinking these past few minutes. He gave you a small smile. “I like that about you.”

‘ _Oh great_.’  You could already feel the warmth rising up in your cheeks.  ‘ _Did not need this today._ ’ 

“What didn’t you need?”

‘ _OH CRAP I SAID THAT OUT LOUD_.’  An uneasy chuckle comes tumbling out of your mouth, the red on your cheeks significantly growing more and more. He only stared straight ahead, silently wishing for an explanation about your odd behavior. You looked over at him, seeing the small smile fade to that of a small frown. It’s astonishing to see how much you can change his attitude in just a few words... but you were the same too, unfortunately. 

“I didn’t need...” Pondering for a moment, you tried to look for a reason to clarify your statement earlier. One that  didn’t  require you telling him about this crush. Nope. You’d take that to your grave, thank you very much. “I didn’t need your attention...?”

_ Smooth. _

“You always have my attention.” The smile’s back up on his face, bigger this time.  ‘ _H_ _oly shit that’s smoother_ —’  The warmth from a while ago that you thought went away? It’s back and it’s  worse  actually. 

“Smooth, Yagami.” 

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

You and Light locked eyes for just a moment. A chuckle or two escapes your mouths, only for it to burst into a disturbing amount of laughter.Everyone around you had never seen the  _ever stoic and intelligent Light Yagami_ so... _ easygoing_, but you... you’ve seen the many shades of Light. You’ve seen the little yet prideful smile at the sight of an aced test, seen him almost snap when someone had tried to push you and hell, you’ve seen him as bright as his name when he was truly happy. There was just one you haven’t seen. You haven’t seen him vulnerable. Though, you’d chalk it all up as him being strong but still... you worry.

And oh, you’ll be seeing more of the fragments of Light Yagami as you get closer to him. You were sure of it. 

‘ _Today seems like a great day_ .’ 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> after rereading these past few chapters, i... might have some editing to do— i’ll put in an [Edited] in the chapter summary when i finish so you guys can read a better one!!

**Author's Note:**

> might consider making this multi chaptered,, only if you guys like it though.
> 
> edit: i’ve written the second chapter because i got bored, so enjoy!!


End file.
